Nev. mustangs saved from slaughter at sale

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Wild horse protection advocates say they have successfully saved dozens of free-roaming horses in Nevada from the slaughterhouse by purchasing them for several thousand dollars at a state auction in Fallon.

Shannon Windle of the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund says she wrote a check for $7,720 to the Nevada Agriculture Department late Wednesday for 29 of the 41 horses the state captured southeast of Reno in recent weeks.

The state says they pose a danger to motorists on area highways.

Windle says she recognized at least two bidders at the auction who would have sold the animals for slaughter. But she's confident a group from nearby Stagecoach that bought eight horses and the individuals who purchased the rest will help protect the mustangs.

Well that's the way it should work. The state did its job in rounding up the horses and protecting the public. And if the horsey folks wanted them protected, they had to "pony up" as they say and buy them at an open auction. That's the free market. Now if the buyers would just release the horses back into the wild, then the state could round them up and sell them again. That could be a great revolving revenue generator for the state.